Category: Life

Since we have just returned back to the real world, I’m just now getting around to some things about the wedding. Enjoy.

First up, those of you who were there, might recall the infamous “cell phone” moment that occurred just as Jess was saying her vows.  What you might not know, if you didn’t hear the scuttlebutt about it after, is this…  It was my father’s phone.  Wait, it gets better.  See, he handed his phone to my mom to hold in her purse, yet did not remember to shut it off.  Of course, it rings at the most inopportune time.  So, mom is apparently fumbling through her purse to find the damn thing, but not being the most technical person, she can’t turn it off, so she’s gotta hand it to dad to finally get it off.  The whole time, I did not dare to look over at what all the commotion was least I lose my mind.  Little did I know it was my own family in the front row!

Now, it would be one thing if it was just a nice simple ring.  But nooooo… Dad’s gotta have this festive marimba type tune that keeps playing and playing.  Don’t believe me?  See for yourself below… My favorite part is when it gets even louder as mom successfully removes it from her purse.

In other wedding stuff news, I have uploaded a bunch of my own photos to our shared flickr.com account.  I know a few of you have already added your pics to the pool and I thank you graciously.  For those of you who haven’t, I’m going to keep reminding you until you do it.  As always, if you need the login information or help, just post a comment or email me and I’ll get it to you.

You can view all of the latest pics here:

• My Wedding Pics
• My Rehearsal Pics
• Some of my random wedding week pics

Finally, I’m going to leave you with a art series.  I call it “The Decline of John – In Pictures”.  It is a three part series, each one shows the effects of alcohol and emotion on a best man at a wedding.  John, I love you, and I love these pics.  Enjoy!

Part 1, The Decent

Part 2, The Fall

Part 3, The Finale

That’s all for now… there will be much more to come in the near future.

Now its really ramping up.

Tuesday

After another uneventful day at work, Jess gave me some “time off”. This is a thing that I get being an introvert that she totally understands. She went to her parents house and was mingling with the arriving family. Meanwhile, I was off the hook and was able to go home and chill out by myself. Recharge the batteries. I love being by myself and it is always a treat for me to really just spend that time to get geared back up. So, thats what I did. After I picked up the printed programs on my way home (which look amazing, if I do say so myself) I ate a little dinner… watched a little olympics… played a little NCAA Football 09. You know, normal stuff.

She came home and we did a little wedding stuff… just more organizing and whatnot. We were in bed by about 10.

Wednesday

Now we’re starting to get somewhere. Jess was actually off on Wed, so she was able to get a lot of last minute things cranked out. I was still working however. After work, I went over to her parents house for dinner with the entire family in from out of town. It was nice to meet everyone, but I’m not great with names to begin with, so I think I forgot them 3.4 seconds after I was told. But, the good thing is I’m good with faces, so I know who the are, just not who they are. I was still kinda wiped out from work, but it was fun.

After that, all of Jess’ cousins in town and siblings came over to see the house, have a couple drinks and play a little Rock Band. It was almost like an impromptu party since we had 10 people there (including us). But it was a lot of fun, and they all left around 9:30. Jess and I basically went straight to bed after that.

So far we’ve had but a taste of the insanity that is to follow. I can’t believe it’s already here. December 1st seems like it was so recent, but we’re talking over 9 months ago.

Just under 60 hours to go.

This is it.

I’m sure these next few posts will be short on creativity, long on just what is going on, and are mainly designed for me to remember this whole process  But, there is no reason you fine folks out there can’t come along for the ride.

Saturday and Sunday:

I spent most of Saturday and Sunday designing all of the printed materials for the wedding.  Programs and whatnot.  This was time consuming because I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to that sort of stuff… finding just the right font and getting the layout just right, so on and so forth.  So, after several hours of that, my eyes were crossing.  I broke only to get my hair cut and to set up the fancy new flickr account.

Sunday afternoon I also spent some time digging crabgrass out of the front lawn.  We never actually got weed and feed down on the lawn this year, and it looks like shit.  But we have been a bit on the preoccupied side lately, so I guess everyone will understand.  Unfortunately, I was a dumbass and spent about an hour bent over at the waist.  Now, my hamstrings are punishing my for my stupidity.  I’m hobling around like a schmuck.  Good times.

Monday:

Monday at work I was not too busy at all.  Which I suppose is a good thing, but at the same time, it didn’t make the time go very fast.  Everyone here at work is super cool including my boss, who I know has directed work away from me leading up to this whole shebang.  Thanks Mike.

The evening was spent with our running around like chickens with our heads cut off.  Jess was doing an awesome time cleaning the house.  I spent time vacuuming and fixing some printed stuff a bit for the printer.

I don’t know, but this “brunch/open house/gift opening” thing that is at our house on Sunday is kinda… um… inopportune.   I mean, we are trying to get everything assembled that needs to go down for the actual wedding… get everything we need to take for ourselves to stay the wedding night in the hotel… not to mention to start getting things prepped for a week in Maui.  On top of that, the house has got to be spotless since so many friends and family (many of whom haven’t seen it yet) will be coming by.  It’s all a bit much.  The stress level is rising hourly.

But, she really got stuff cleaned.  I assembled some of our electronics to take on vacation and various other little things.  After a long hot bath trying to limber up my stiff legs, we both crashed into bed about 10pm.

I’m gonna have to find some energy stores here soon.  Although, I’m sure I’ll fly through the actual events on sheer adrenaline and booze.  The best part is once things are happening, I can stop thinking about and planning them.  Sounds great to me.

More to come.

Well, here we are.  T-Minus One Week and counting.

Amazing where time goes sometimes.  Remarkably, we don’t seem to be scrambling much at the moment.  Sure, we’re busy, but everything feels calm and in control.  Of course, check back with me in 5 or 6 days and you might get a different answer.  I’m sure 100% of this current state of serenity is due to all the work Jess has put in since December 1st.  Thank god she is the organized one… I can’t imagine where this whole production would be without her.  Well, that’s a stupid point, because if she weren’t around, then there wouldn’t be a wedding, but you know what I mean.

This weekend will undoubtedly be the last serenity we get until Maui on the 18th.  Once Sunday is over, then it is damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.  Family starts rolling into town.  Once that happens, I’m sure the insanity will reach the fever pitch.  I’m going to have to seriously take care to get some quality alone recharge time this week so I’m good and ready for the big day on Saturday.

An interesting thing has taken place in my brain since we started this whole process back in December.  Early on, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the last time I did all this back in 2003.  You know, those same discussions about plans and locations and whatnot.  It was very odd, and I couldn’t help it.   It was still fresh in my brain.  But, since then, the memories of the last time around have faded further and further.  Right now, I honestly can’t remember what went on leading up to the ceremony day last time.  Which is a great thing.  I’m all about now.  It is so nice what time can do.

Not to mention, that I have no inner turmoil this time around.  I won’t lie, I had doubts last time.  I can vividly remember having a mini-freakout while driving once about getting married.  I obviously knew somewhere in my brain that it wasn’t right.

This time?  It’s the clearest of clear sailing.  Not one single time have I had even the remotest doubt anywhere in my subconscious.  To be perfectly honest, until I got half way through this post, I didn’t even realize that I hadn’t had any doubts.   That just tells me that I could not be making a better decision hitching my wagon with Jess.

I’m genuinely excited for the future.  Not just surviving.  Not just making do.  Thriving.  I can’t imagine where we go from here, but I guarantee it will be a hell of a ride.

We’ve rounded the final turn and are heading down the home stretch. A mere 2 and a half weeks until it’s go time.

All of the major pieces are done, and many have been for awhile. Now is the time for little detail stuff. That stuff which could be successfully postponed 3 months ago, can’t be procrastinated any longer. For example, Jess and I decorated 75 candle holders for tables (there will be more than one per table, fyi). Other things such as fitting for tuxes and Jess getting her makeup and hair choices squared away. No, I didn’t know women do that, and I’ve been here before… go figure.

Luckily, I put my foot down about one single thing for this wedding. We are not doing any sort of “wedding favors”. You know, that stupid shit that people give you when you attend their wedding, that you don’t want to carry around anyway… We’re not doing it. You know why? It’s because NOBODY ACTUALLY WANTS THAT CRAP. You know what happens is you spend 3 weeks and untold hundreds of dollars assembling these little plants, or some stupid little token, or whatever, and 80% of the people either throw it away immediately or just leave it at the reception. Another 15% put it somewhere in their house, only to lose it and end up throwing it away a year later. 5% may actually find a use for whatever lame ass thing you gave them, but even then, it’s a marginal use. As I told Jess, I guarantee you, if we have no favors not a single person will leave the wedding saying, “I can’t believe they didn’t give us anything!” Hell, you’re getting a night out, excellent grub (all you can eat), including a very good cake for dessert, free beer and wine (all you can drink), and chances are this thing will be filled with at least a few of your friends and/or family.  It will be the party of the year. What, that’s not enough for you!?

Let’s see… what else… We’ve gotten our rings squared away. Mom has made us some runners for tables. We’ve tasted cakes and food. Today we meet with the DJ. Still gotta get the license, however.

The thing is, as crazy as it has been for me, it’s gotta be 50x crazier for Jess. She is a whirlwind. My brain would have long since turned to tapioca had I been the lead on this whole production. Do me a favor, next time you see her, tell her she’s doing a terrific job and it will all be worth it, and more importantly, it will be over soon.

We are also approaching the stage in which I am going to be careful bordering on paranoid to avoid getting sick. We’re talking vigorous hand scrubbings, portable hand sanitizers, avoiding handshakes (in favor of fist bumps if necessary) and stocking up on the Vitamin C. If the previous last thing I wanted to do was to be sick in Las Vegas, the REAL last thing I want to do is to be sick for the wedding day and/or a week in Hawaii. I will do everything in my power to keep that from happening.

Let me tell you… Maui is going to be a legitimate vacation. Not a quick getaway. No sporting events to attend. No friends or family to visit. Nothing but beach lounging (under shade, of course) and tropical drinks.  I see now why people go on honeymoons. You need that time to relax and recharge.

Ok… I’ve got Maui on my brain and don’t feel like writing any more about what we still have left to do. Suffice it to say, we’re going to be a little haried until we step onto that plane bound for the garden isle August 18th.